The finance officer at a company is responsible for the management of that company’s funds, overseeing that they’re properly invested and otherwise spent in the predetermined manners. A finance officer is commonly tasked with just the spending aspects of a company’s financial operations, but in some cases they may also be responsible for acquiring the funds that they’re using. It’s rare for a company to employ more than one finance officer, and in cases when they do, the primary one is titled the Chief Financial Officer. Common aspects of a company’s operations that fall under a finance officer’s duties include employee salaries, benefits and investments.
Becoming a finance officer requires at least a Bachelor’s degree in finances, administration or economics. A strong business sense and the ability to make coherent decisions based on a floating capital are of strong benefit to a finance officer, as the job often poses some tough decisions that need to be taken on the spot without the ability to consult other members of the company. Finance officers are regularly evaluated based on their performance in accordance with the company’s spending and earning.
A finance officer’s annual salary is largely dependent on their performance and the company that employs them – generally, a salary of between $80,000 – $180,000 is to be expected, with the higher ranges being very common for high-ranking companies with large-scale financial operations. The job is highly demanding in some cases though, and failure is traditionally punished very severely.